Inspiration and Philosophy from Art

While I was in college I took a course on Art History and we spent a very minor amount to time on an artist named Thomas Cole. He painted a 5 painting series called The Course of Empire in the early 1800’s. Our book did not come with an explanation of the meaning of the paintings, only a description of the media and techniques he used to create them. When I first saw the series it was like looking at a cycle I’ve seen both in my experiences and throughout history, and it gave me chills.

Thomas Cole – The Course of Empire

1: The Savage State2: Consummation

3: Destruction

4: Desolation

5: Arcadia

What I love about art is that it is completely open to interpretation. After staring at this series I’ve learned the cycle that is civilization. As young as I am, and to understand the mistake man-kind…